


Building Bridges

by aurora_denian



Series: Electric Green [10]
Category: Captain America (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universes, Bifrost, Explicit Sexual Content, Multi, Rule 34, Rule 63, Science Experiments, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-20
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-11-12 13:02:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/491310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurora_denian/pseuds/aurora_denian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SHIELD has finally green lighted the actual construction portion of an Einstien-Rosen bridge, now if only they could figure out the practical application of theoretical physics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Darcy had met Dr. Richard Reed a grand total of two times before she'd been assigned as liaison to the Bifrost Project, and neither time she had been particularly enthralled with the man. Now less then ten minutes in to showing him the labs that had been assigned for the Project she wanted to do nothing more then smash her head against a wall till she blacked out. Mentally milling it over she nixed that, smashing _his_ head against a wall would be much more satisfying.

 

“The equipment I have at the Baxter Building is really much more conducive for the tests I'll need to perform.” he said, yet again, as Darcy ushered him into another room. That makes three mentions and she'd only managed to get through four of the nine labs set up for the Project.

 

“I've made note of that, Dr. Richards.” she said placatingly, her largest PR smile on her face. At first she'd thought he was just a conceited, arrogant, dick who always thought he was right. Now, well, now she thought the same thing but she also realized he thought he was always right because who could ever think Reed Richards _wasn't_ right about something. “This particular lab however is designed specifically for Dr. Banner's research.”

 

Richards gave a 'hmm' noise in response as he continued to look around. Looking down at her tablet to hide her eye roll she really wanted to hurry things along. She still had to meet with Tony about the security measures for the labs, and her feet were killing her. She really should have gone with a different pair of shoes, these being new, but she'd hoped that maybe she could meet up with James for a little lunch time fun to lessen the stress of the day. That had, predictably, fallen though, and she'd of course forgotten to grab an extra pair on the way out this morning.

 

“Yo! Lewis!” rang out from the hall a few seconds later, drawing Darcy's eyes up. Seeing Tony wandering towards the lab she let her shoulders relax and silently praised every deity she could think off for the reprieve.

 

“Yes, Mr. Stark?” she called back, partially exiting the lab so that she didn't have to shout.

 

Tony came to a stop, large grin on his face. “Aw, there you are!” he chirped, munching away on some kind of freeze dried fruit. “Heard you got landed with showing Richards around. Bummer. I thought they paid minions to deal with the people nobody liked?”

 

Some of Darcy's smile turned real as she gave Tony a look, tilting her head into the lab. “I was just showing  _Dr._ Richards around Dr. Banner's lab.” she explained, gesturing for him to follow her inside. “Dr. Richards. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to cut the tour short for the time being. I have a mandatory meeting with Mr. Stark slotted for this time.”

 

The man sent her a miffed look. “I've yet to see the labs I will be occupying.” he said, voice letting her know he felt put out.

 

Smiling apologetically Darcy nodded. “I'm aware, and I'm very sorry about this. If you give me a moment I will contact someone who will be more then happy to show you to the labs you will specifically be using.” she explained, comm already in hand.

 

“I was under the impression that you were our assistant for this project, Miss Lewis.” Richards said, voice honestly sounding perplexed.

 

Darcy had to stop herself from chucking her comm at his head. Seriously, it was like the man was living in the nineteen fifties or something. Instead of turning to physical violence she instead plastered a sarcastic smile on her face and gave him a look. “Agent Lewis,  _Dr._ Richards, and I am not the  _assistant_ for this project. I am a SHIELD agent who is acting as liaison between this project and Director Fury. I am simply here to insure that meetings, deadlines, and all other components of the Project are running as smoothly as possible. Now if you will excuse me.” Tapping her comm she waited for the click. “Yes, this is Agent Lewis. I need someone to continue Dr. Richards' tour of the facilities. Send Anglarman.” Waiting for the conformation she nodded. “Yes, I will let him know. Dr. Richards, please remain here, Agent Anglarman will be here in a few moments to complete your tour. Mr. Stark, if you would please follow me.” Not looking a back she stalked out of the lab.

 

She was never more grateful to Coulson then she was in this moment. When they were setting up for the project he had insisted on having an office for her set up on the same floor as the labs. Keying into the office she kicked off her shoes before all but collapsing into her overstuffed chair. Flexing her toes she let out a low moan of pleasure.

 

“Why do I have a feeling you just threw Richards to the wolves?” Tony asked, slumping into the chair on the other side of her desk.

 

Not opening her eyes Darcy snorted. “That's because I just threw Richards at a six foot tall feminist who used to be a Marine. He so much as blinks out of turn and she'll punch him in the face.” she explained, stretching as she opened her eyes. Reaching for the file folder on her desk top she focused back in on what had to be done. “We actually did have a meeting today. I need an update about the security measures for this floor, and the individual lab.”

 

Tony just leaned back in his chair. “Already done.” he said, looking smug. At Darcy's look he huffed. “JARVIS bring up the safety protocols for floors thirty through thirty five please.” The wall to Darcy's left lite up, schematics on clear display. “Retinal and finger print scans needed for all six floor, they have to be given before the elevator will even  _move_ . Once you get to the labs it's the same thing, though there are also bio detection programs running too.” Walking up to the screen Tony scrolled though a few pages. “We've got emergency lock downs, bio hazard containment, proper disposal of any and all sensitive materials, even a fully stocked medical ward. All taken care of, and ready to go.”

 

Plopping back down in his seat Darcy rolled her eyes at his smug look just intensified. “Thank you, Mr. Stark.” she said, only a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “JARVIS could you please send these files to my computer, and tablet?” When both devices lit up she smiled at the ceiling. “Thank you, JARVIS. Have you not fixed his voice interface yet?”

 

Tony just sighed, and shrugged. “The upgrade is still be assimilated, till it's done there's nothing I can do. It should fix itself in a few days.” he answered, looking a little displeased.

 

“It's just so weird not hearing him, yeah know?” she asked, hands already busy reorginizing the information she'd been given. “Well, this should be everything I need for right now. I'll go ahead and send it off to Coulson.”

 

Tony nodded, stretching as he stood. “See you at dinner tonight?” he asked.

 

Darcy shook her head, moving some of her files to their appropriate place. “No. You'll have to feed yourselves tonight.” she quipped.

 

“Aw,” Tony whined. “But you make better food then Clint and it's his turn to cook!”  
  


Laughing Darcy just shook her head. “Sorry. If you want I can order take out before I leave.” she offered eyes moving back to the schematics on her tablet.

 

Tony just sighed dramatically. “No, no. I see how it is. You get a promotion and suddenly there's not enough time for the little people anymore.”

 

“Yes,” she said sarcastically. “Because I'd much rather be wrangling scientists and putting out fires then hanging out with you guys. I'll try and make it tomorrow, promise.”

 

Tony nodded. “Alright, but I'm telling Cap you promised, if you back out he'll give you the puppy dog eyes.”

 

Snorting out a laugh Darcy just waved. “Bye, Tony.” Tony just waved over his shoulder as he walked out the door.

 

Leaning back in her chair she closed her eyes again, trying to process everything. The Project had technically been underway for three weeks now, but tomorrow would mark the first part of the tests. With any luck they wouldn't bust a whole in the space time continuum.

 

A knock on the door a few minutes later had her blinking away her wandering thoughts. “Thumb print.” she spoke into the comm on her desk. A few seconds later the door clicked open. “This had better be important.”

 

“Lunch usually is.” Smiling Darcy looked up as James as he walked fully into the room. “You always forget to eat so I thought I'd at least drop this off.”

 

Slipping into her shoes again Darcy walked around the desk, wrapping her arms around his neck as he set the takeout bag on the desk. “I can think of more important things then lunch.” she joked before pulling him down into a heated kiss.

 

“Hmm. What did you have in mind, Ms Lewis?” he asked as he pulled back.

 

“Agent Lewis.” she corrected in an authoritative voice before smiling again. “And, I'm thinking we should break this nice, new, sound proof office in.” To prove her point she wiggled her way back till she was sitting on the edge of her desk, slowly wrapping her legs around his waist to pull him close.

 

Darcy shivered as she felt his breathy laugh tickle the side of her face. “I think you're right.” he said softly, his hand running gently up her side to cup the side of her breast. “What did you have in mind? Do you want to play a game?” He punctuated his second question with a light nip to her neck.

 

“Nhn, no.” Darcy gasped out as his lips gently worked over the side of her neck. “Just you and me.” Her voice was coming out in raspy pants but she didn't care. Tightening her legs she pulled him even closer, gently grinding against him as his thumb found her nipple. Leaning forward she nibbled at his earlobe. “Got no problem with keeping the garters and heels on though.”

 

“Fuck.” he gasped against her neck before both hands moved up to her shoulders, gently pushing off her suite coat. Pulling him into a bruising kiss Darcy pulled his shirt out of the top of his dress pants, fingers a little unsteady as she tried to hurriedly undo the buttons. She pushed it off of his shoulders with out breaking the kiss, her hands lingering over the hard, muscular lines of his shoulders.

 

Her shirt disappeared in the time it took him to move his lips from hers to the spot at the edge of her jaw that always made her knees go weak. Panting she worked her hands between them, tossing her belt over her shoulder as soon as it had escaped the confines of his belt loops. Undoing his fly she slipped her hand inside, fingers brushing against the hardened flesh she found there. “You're all hard for me, baby.” she breathed into his ear. “Want me to suck you? I  _love_ taking you in my mouth, making you scream.”

 

James moaned against her neck, teeth grazing against her collar bone. She'd learned early in their relationship that he liked hearing her talk dirty. Not only that but he liked whispering naughty little things into her skin. “No.” he finally gasped out. “No. Wanna be inside you.”

 

Darcy couldn't argue with that, instead she lifted her hips, letting him slide her panties down her thighs and to the floor. Pulling her into yet another heated kiss Darcy ran her hands over every inch of him that she could. She gasped against his lips as he slowly slide into her. It didn't matter how many times they did this, and they'd done it a lot over the past few years, every time made her gasp. Closing her eyes tightly she buried her head in his neck, her hips moving at their own volition.

 

His fingertips slowly worked their way under her bra, gently caressing her nipples as his other hand settled on her hip, pulling her as close as possible. Darcy could feel the pressure building, almost there, but not quite even as she cried out in pleasure. “Please.” she breathed in his ear, rocking her hips at a slightly different angle. Crushing his lips against hers his hand worked it's way between them, pressing and rubbing gently right where she needed it. Moaning loudly against his lips she felt herself break apart, holding him tightly against her as he followed suite.

 

Panting Darcy pulled him back with her till her back hit the desk, his head cradled against her chest as she ran her hands through his hair. “We forgot the condom, again.” she said after a minute, a soft smile on her face.

 

James barked out a gasp of laughter. “Thank goodness for modern medicine, then” he said gently, running his fingertips over her collarbone and shoulder as he slowly collected himself. “You did get the shot right?”

 

Lifting her head slightly she gave him a look. “Like I would be this calm if I hadn't been shot up with volatile chemicals on schedule.” she quipped before ruffling his hair. Groaning she pushed at his shoulder till he moved off of her. Stretching muscles she knew would be sore later she started picking up her scattered cloths. “So what did you bring for lunch?” she asked, slipping her blouse back on.

 

“Just sandwiches.” he answered, tucking his shirt back in. “I figured that way if I didn't catch you I could just put it in the mini fridge and it would still be fine later.”

 

“You're so sweet, babe.” she said, giving him a large smile before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. Walking over to her desk she opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a brush and her backup makeup bag. Fixing herself back to a presentable state she asked, “So are you staying for a bit, or do you have important secret agent things to do?”

 

Chuckling James took the seat opposite her. “Wish I could stay, but I'm actually heading out on assignment in a few hours.” he said, looking at her apolitically.

 

“Stateside?” she asked, touching up her lipstick.

 

James nodded. “Yeah, Chicago. I'll be back at the end of the week.”

 

Sighing Darcy nodded. “I'll cancel the reservations.” she said, putting her things back in their drawer. Digging around she pulled out a newspaper wrapped parcel and tossed it to him. Smiling James dug around in his own coat pocket before tossing her a similarly wrapped package. Grinning Darcy tore open the paper, gasping at what she saw inside. “Oh my god!” Holding up the wind chime she watched the florescent light bounce off of the quartz crystals. “How did you get this?”

 

James just shrugged as he started opening his own. “They have a website now.” was all he offered up as an answer. Freeing his own gift he grinned brightly. Hanging around a simple chain were his dog tags, his original dog tags. “How did you get these?” he asked, slipping them around his neck.

 

Darcy shrugged, smile even brighter. “Raid on an old Red Room facility last month. Took forever to get them out of the evidence locker. I thought I was going to have to make them a Christmas present instead.” she explained, hand reaching out of lay over them. “Can you take them on your op with you?”

 

James shook his head. “No.” he said, reaching up to tug them off. “You keep ahold of them till I get back.” Gently pulling her hair out of the way he slipped the tags around her neck before kissing her gently. Pulling back he checked his watch, cursing slightly. “I'm wheels up in twenty, I've gotta go.” Giving her one more brief kiss he was heading out the door. “Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone!”

 

Her cry of “What could happen in a week?” was cut off by the door shutting. Shacking her head she smile fondly down at the wind chime, the pale smokey quartz reflecting just like she remembered. She also knew for a fact that they didn't have a website, she'd looked. Shaking herself out of the rabbits hole that was her own mind she reached out and grabbed the bag of take out that had come out of the last hours events unscathed.

 

Taking a bite of her sandwich she turned back to her paperwork. Maybe if she worked enough she could make the week go by faster.


	2. Two Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to start off by sending out a big thank you to my beta reader blueanne. She's put in a lot of work correcting my horrible spelling, and I am no ends of grateful to her.

Darcy should have known better. She really, really fucking should have. Three days. That's how long they'd managed without incident. Nothing caught fire, nothing exploded. So she'd let her guard down just a little, wasn't as vigilant as she should have been. It was her fault. The seconds it took her to run down the hall from her office, screaming out orders between shouting to Bruce and Tony to see if they were alright, all she could think was that this was somehow her fault. The reactor, the one that was supposed to indefinitely fuel the Bifrost from their end, had gone into meltdown. Something had happened on _her watch_ to make a fucking _arc reactor_ go into meltdown.

 

Breaking through the threshold of the lab Darcy chocked on the thick smoke that filled the room. “Tony! Bruce!” she screamed, coughing and blinking against the nearly blinding smoke. Ignoring the pain in her throat and blinking against the burning in her eyes she entered the room. “Tony!” Her scream ended abruptly, her foot teetering over some piece of debris in the floor. Lurching forward she tried to catch herself, hands flailing. She saw the countertop seconds before her forehead connected, a sickening crack echoing in her ears. Sliding to the floor she could feel blood trickling into her eyes. She tried to hold on to consciousness but her vision began to blur and blacken around the edges. Darcy didn't even feel it as her head connected with the floor. 

 

It was cold. Scrunching her brow Darcy fought towards wakefulness, brain trying to catch up with her body. Groaning she raised a hand to her forehead, the surface slightly sticky. Frowning she pulled back her hand, cracking open one eye so that she could see what was going on. The red tainting her fingertips drew her to full wakefulness. Sitting up quickly she teetered, dizzy and disoriented. Cursing under her breath, Darcy righted herself before slowly rising to her feet.

 

The smoke had cleared, her eyes finally taking in the extent of the damage. Giving a sigh she leaned against her lab table, steadying her balance before slowly making her way out of the lab.

 

By the time she was in the elevator she was more then a little pissed that they'd left her bleeding on the floor. Hearing the ding of the doors she pushed herself forward, mouth open to rant, but stopped. “I'm fine, Doc, really,” drifted towards her from a very familiar face. There, perched on the edge of the couch in ratty jeans and a Goodwill sweater was, well, _her_.

 

“What the _**fuck**_?” Darcy bellowed, her eyes wide. Three heads whipped around, eyes as wide as her own.

 

“Holy fuck!” the imposter shouted, standing to look at her dumbly. “It's like looking in a mirror!” Her nose scrunched up slightly as she took in Darcy's outfit. “Well, if a mirror reflects anorexic corporate sell outs.”

 

Darcy frowned down at herself. Ok, so she had lost a little weight in the last year, but things were stressful. As for the corporate sell out, it was kind of hard to find suits that fit at least half way decently at a thrift store. Instead of feeling self-conscious she crossed her arms and glared. “Really? You're talking about my outfit? In that sweater? Did it come with complimentary bong water stains?” she snarked.

 

The doppelganger just glared back. “Ok, hold up, wait a minute!” Tony shouted, coming to stand in between them, arms raised. “What the hell is going on? JARVIS?”

 

“Yes, Master Tony?” JARVIS' voice echoed throughout the room.

 

Darcy brightened up at the familiar voice. “JARVIS! You got your voice back!” she squealed happily, beaming at the ceiling.

 

“Indeed, Miss Lewis,” the AI answered, a bit of a smile reflecting in his voice.

 

“Wait, so that is Darcy?” Bruce piped up, stepping forward.

 

“Yes, Doctor Banner.” JARVIS replied. “By my scans they are both Darcy Lewis.” Darcy's frown was back as she stared at the woman standing across from her. “However,” JARVIS began before anyone could say anything else, “While they are both fundamentally Darcy Lewis, the Miss Lewis standing near the elevator has all of the correct biometric signatures of the Miss Lewis we are familiar with.”

 

“Bio-whats-its?” the faux-Darcy asked, brow crinkling together.

 

Rolling her eyes Darcy felt a little bit of pride that she was at least smarter then her doppelganger if nothing else. “It's a scan that assesses an individual’s specific biological signatures, like vitals and background radiation, any unique signatures,” she explained, voice only slightly condescending. 

 

“That is correct, Miss Lewis,” JARVIS affirmed. “The second Darcy Lewis has an increased amount of Gamma radiation in her system. Similar to Agent Romanoff.” Darcy couldn't stop the look of disbelief that overtook her face.

 

“You've gotta be fucking shitting me!” she exclaimed. 

 

Tony just looked confused. “I don't like being left out. Share with the rest of the class, Lewis.” he said, waving a hand around.

 

Snorting Darcy shook her head. “Natasha has a miniscule amount of Gamma radiation in her system. It's mostly negated because of all the _other_ chemicals floating around in her system. Her healing time is a fraction of what mine or even yours is, Tony. So the radiation just kinda...sets there,” she explained, giving a little shrug. “But little Ms. Hipster over there?” She jabbed a thumb in her doppelganger's direction while pointedly ignoring her indignant sound. “She should be dead. Deader then dead.”

 

The other Darcy shrugged. “SHIELD gave me some sorta shot thing. The radiation poisoning went away. Doc didn't mean for it to happen, we just didn't know.” She looked a little sad as she said the last part, hands nervously twisting a ring on her left hand.

 

Darcy shook her head. “You mean he was thinking with his dick. Sorry, Bruce,” she said, sending him a small apologetic smile.

 

“Wait,” Bruce said, pulling off his glasses to rub at his eyes. “I think I need a moment to process this.”

 

“It's not that hard. Instead of going for the badass, red haired, Russian spy, you apparently went for the frumpy little...what do you do for a living?” Darcy asked, lifting a condescending brow. She really shouldn't feel superior but she did, and right now she was going to soak up the feeling. It wasn't often that she had proof that she wasn't a total and complete fuck up at life.

 

“I'm a lab assistant!” the other woman shouted.

 

“You took Jane up on the job offer?” Darcy asked, frowning. She sometimes wondered what life would have been like if she'd told Jane yes. Now she had living evidence in front of her. Well, if she wasn't really a mutant just fucking with them. Shaking her head she sighed. “Never mind, don't care. All I care about is whether you're who you say you are or if you're a security breach. JARVIS?”

 

“All scans indicate that the woman is in fact Darcy Lewis. A vial of blood would need to be drawn to affirm completely,” JARVIS explained.

 

“Alright then. To the lab. Bruce, draw the blood, have JARVIS test it, and once we're all done we can have story time while trying to figure out how to get your ass back where it belongs.” Darcy said, grabbing the other woman's wrist and pulling her towards the elevator. “Keep up boys, today is not the day to fuck with me.” The two men followed swiftly behind.

 


	3. A Choice of Paths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's looking like this is going to start being a weekly update, probably on Fridays. Maybe more often, though probably not. Once again a big thanks to my beta reader blueanne, who on top of correcting my grammar, is also very good at pointing out when I've gone completely off the reservation. Anyway, enjoy and review if you feel so inclined.

Bruce pushed Darcy into a chair as soon as their little group entered the medbay, her doppelganger standing awkwardly off to the side, watching. Glaring, she tried to bat his hands away, scowling deeply as he disinfected and bandaged the wound on her forehead. “I'm fine,” she growled, crossing her arms. “We need to figure out who _she_ is more then I need you babying me.” The other woman just stuck out her tongue, sulking from her own stool. 

 

“I have a name you know,” she countered, crossing her arms.

 

“Yes,” Darcy drawled. “Conveniently it's my name too.”

 

“What should we name her?” Tony asked, sizing the other woman up while tapping his chin. “I've always liked the name Joan, personally.”

 

Darcy fought hard not to roll her eyes, instead pulling herself to her feet. “She's not a puppy, Tony,” she admonished. Bruce snorted from his spot across the medbay. At Tony's glare he just held up his hands. 

 

“We could just call her Prudence,” he offered as he walked towards the woman. She stilled in her chair, eyes going slightly wide. “Is something the matter? I chose the smaller needles since I know our Darcy doesn't really like needles to begin with.”

 

“No,” she said, her voice sounding small. “How do you know that name? My...the other you doesn't even know that name.” Bruce opened his mouth to answer only to shut it again, glancing over his shoulder at Darcy.

 

Sighing, Darcy kicked off her heels before making it over to the phlebotomy station. “He knows it because Clint has a big mouth,” Darcy answered. “That and Clem.” 

 

The other woman's eyes lit up at that name. “Is she here, Clem?” she asked excitedly. Darcy looked at her strangely, watching as she practically bounced in her seat.

 

“Not right now,” Darcy replied. “She's somewhere in Europe with her....fiance.”

 

The other woman deflated almost instantly. “Oh,” she whispered. Darcy wanted to ask what was wrong, but her doppelganger seemed to shake herself out of it. “I guess Prudence is okay, or Prue I guess.” She shrugged, gaze focusing anywhere but the arm that Bruce was currently drawing blood from.

 

The clap of Tony's hand seemed loud, and Darcy winced slightly. “Well that's settled then. Can we go back to being brilliant now?” he asked, voice caught somewhere between sarcastic and petulant.

 

“I was under the impression that _I_ was the one being brilliant,” Bruce deadpanned as he took the vial over to a machine that till this very moment Darcy had thought was a copier. “After all I believe I was the one who thought to unplug the machine when it had gone into meltdown.”

 

“Semantics,” Tony scoffed, crossing his arms. “Now can we go?” When he looked at Darcy it looked like he was asking for recess privileges instead of building a functioning cross-universal teleport. 

 

Crossing her own arms Darcy lifted a brow. “I think you're forgetting something very important,” she said, tilting her head towards the newly christened Prue.

 

Looking playfully confused Tony glanced in that direction. “What? That?” he asked, voice maybe a little higher then normal. Making a dismissive noise he waved his hand around. “That's nothing. Probably solve itself before we even know it.”

 

Darcy narrowed her eyes, looking at him critically. While Tony wasn't a bleeding heart by any scope of the imagination, he usually wasn't so callous about people either. Not to mention the fact that his blatant disinterest in figuring out exactly _how_ this had happened was so uncharacteristic she couldn't wrap her head around it. “JARVIS. Do a full body scan on Tony Stark.” she said, eyes still trained on him.

 

“What?” Tony screeched. Darcy just lifted a challenging eyebrow, daring him to say anything else.

 

“Scan complete, Miss Lewis.” JARVIS' voice filled the room a few seconds later. “All scans are normal, though he appears to have a moderately elevated pulse, usually associated with withholding information.”

 

Her intense glare finally had Tony throwing up his hands. “Alright! Alright!” he burst out before deflating slightly. “So I may have been trying to see if there was a way we could control the power influxes to comply with a set of predetermined temporal durations.” Darcy stared at him blankly for a few seconds before stomping across the room and slapping him across the shoulder. “Ow! What was that for?”

 

“You put that thing on a _timer_?” she asked, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

 

“Yes,” he said, slowly drawing out the word as he gauged her reaction. Darcy relaxed her own face, waiting till she saw his shoulders relax before slapping his arm again. “Ow! Stop hitting me!”

 

“Then stop doing stupid stuff like setting an energy converter on a _timer_ when we don't know what the fuck it’s capable of,” she seethed, glaring again. “Now what the fuck else did you alter. Cause a timer alone isn't what got us her.”

 

Rubbing his arm Tony glared at her for a moment before sighing. “So I might have maybe set it to max,” he said, this time ducking her hand. “I said stop hitting me! I didn't know this was going to happen!”

 

Sighing she turned to Bruce. “Tests?” she asked, watching as he picked up the data printout.

 

“She's human, and seems to match you,” he replied, not looking up from the sheet. Darcy relaxed just slightly, knowing Bruce would have checked for the x gene and any other abnormalities.

 

“Alright,” Darcy said, before turning to her doppelganger. “Any chance your Tony did the same thing as ours?”

 

Prue just shrugged as she pulled herself up off of the stool. “It's possible,” she answered with a shrug. “I mean, I was in the lab as an assistant but nobody really tells me what's going on most of the time. I just do data entry.” Darcy nodded, trying to piece together everything in her head.

 

“Wait,” Bruce's brow crinkled together as he ran a hand along his jaw. “There's a possibly, slight but there, that if we put the machine on maximum, and the us in her universe did as well, that the two influxes in energy-” 

 

“Could have breached the dimensional barrier!” Tony shouted, cutting Bruce off. “If the energy signatures could have somehow created a..a..an electric dipole moment! The two points would have touched!”

 

“Wait!” Darcy cried, her mind trying to process. “If their universe, and our universe touched, why is she here? I mean, the two points just touched, why did she come through? Was there a bridge or something?”

 

“Sort of,” Bruce said, moving over to one of the whiteboards scattered throughout the room. “It would have given the opportunity for a displacement vector. The direct path between two points, her universe, and ours.” Darcy watched as he scribbled out a series of equations. She honestly didn't understand any of it, but Tony made several approving noises, scribbling his own notes next to Bruce's. “If she was standing in close proximity to the nexus she might have been pulled in through the vacuum.”

 

Prue seemed to be as lost as Darcy, but she nodded along. “Yeah, I was trying to shut it off,” she explained, wrapping her arms around herself. “It all kind of happened quickly. I'm not really sure. One minute I was trying to pull the plug, the next the rooms filled with smoke, and I'm on the floor.”

 

“So we can send her back.” Darcy said, breaking the two scientists out of their haze. “I mean, it's on a timer. If theirs is too, then the same thing will happen again. As long as she's in the same spot, she'll just go back.”

 

Capping his marker Bruce turned to look at the two women. “Theoretically,” he answered, his voice sounding far from certain. “There are a number of unknown variables, so we have no way of knowing with certainty.”

 

“You got a better option?” Darcy asked with a pointed look. It was a long shot, she knew that, but right now they had a woman who didn't belong in their universe, and she'd seen enough movies to know that never ended well. 

 

Tony and Bruce shared a look before Bruce spoke again. “No.” His voice was resigned as he said it. “Our only hope is to recreate the situation, and hope for the best. Best case scenario it works.”

 

“And the worst?” Prue asked, arms wrapping just a little more tightly around herself. Darcy felt bad for her doppelganger, thrust into a world that looked a lot like hers, except everything was different. She knew she'd be freaking out if she were in the same situation. Well, once the shock wore off.

 

“Worst case scenario we punch a hole through the dimensional lining that separates your universe from ours.” Bruce explained, punctuated by Tony make a loud explosion noise. Bruce shot him a sideways glance. “Thank you, Tony, that's exactly what we needed right now.”

 

Tony just shrugged, stuffing his hands in his back pockets. “We've got four hours to get the reactor up and running again. Then we just hope we don't all die,” was his only reply.

 

Running a hand over her forehead Darcy could feel a tension headache coming on. “Get it working,” she snapped, sending Bruce a slightly apologetic look afterward. “I'm taking my twin here up to the kitchen, and I'm calling Coulson.”

 

Bruce nodded. “We should have everything ready to go in two or three hours.” 

 

Darcy gave her own nod. “Good. The rest of the team is due back from South America tonight. I'd like to have this resolved, and the debriefing over with, before then.” Turning towards Prue she made a gesture towards the door. “Come on. I need some more information from you before I call Coulson.”

 

Prue just nodded, following quietly behind. In Darcy's opinion she looked a little shell-shocked, the adrenaline from the situation obviously long gone. Darcy just hoped they got this whole thing resolved; she could live without having a living, breathing 'what if' following her around.

 

Since the others were currently taking out a Hydra base in Argentina the kitchen was thankfully empty. “Have a seat,” she instructed before walking over to the cabinet to pull out two mugs and a box of tea. While coffee was usually her life force, Darcy always preferred tea when things got really stressful. Probably because that was what her Gran had done. There wasn't an ailment in the world that couldn't be helped out, at least a little, by a cup of tea. The capfull of Bourbon that she added, though, was definitely something she'd picked up from Nana. 

 

Setting both mugs on the table she slid one across to her doppelganger. Taking a long sip she allowed the warm liquid to slide down her throat slowly, savoring the feeling of it warming her up. Clearing her throat she drew the other woman's attention away from the contents of her mug. “My boss would have my ass if I didn't collect some information out of this whole thing. It's not very often that inter dimensional travelers just fall in your lap.” Prue nodded, her hands wrapping around the mug as she turned her head to look at Darcy. “Good. JARVIS can you send all information we've already collected to my tablet, please?”

 

“Certainly, Miss Lewis.” the AI answered. Taking a sip of her tea she waited a few seconds till her screen lit up, reading over what was there.

 

“Thank you, JARVIS.” Darcy smiled slightly at the 'you're welcome' she received. JARVIS was a sweetheart, for a computer program anyway. Scrolling to the beginning Darcy looked over the questions Bruce and Tony had first asked her. “Marital status?”

 

Prue stared down at her mug for a long second, thumb running over her bare ring finger. That was a tell if Darcy ever saw one. “Separated,” she answered a moment later, taking a long drink of tea. “Four months.” 

 

Darcy nodded, adding the information. “I'm going to assume that you are employed as a lab assistant to Dr. Jane Foster.” When Prue nodded, Darcy moved on. “Alright. Coulson's never going to let me forget this.”

 

“You've said that name a couple'a times,” Prue said, looking confused. “Who's Coulson?”

 

Darcy's fingers stilled over the touch screen. Coulson...Coulson was her boss, and had become a sort of parental figure, hell a friend over the last year or so. She'd saved his life, a few times, and he'd saved hers. For her not to know Coulson, it wasn't something her mind could wrap around. Clearing her throat she focused back in on her tablet. “He is a SHIELD agent. He was in charge of the SHIELD operation in New Mexico,” she finally answered.

 

Some of the confusion seemed to clear up from Prue's face. “Oh, the jackbooted thug that stole my ipod!” she said, more animated then Darcy had seen her in the last five minutes. “That's the only time I met him.”

 

“He is one of the liaisons between SHIELD and the Avengers. I'm sure you've met him more then once,” Darcy said, her mind instantly rationalizing.

 

Prue shook her head. “No, that was it,” she said, her voice certain. “Doc...well, he told me he died, on the flying base thing, during the whole Loki trying to kill us all fiasco.” Darcy had to swallow hard at that, memories suddenly floating back to the surface. Blood, screeching metal, her hands shaking as she pressed a balled up piece of black fabric to an open wound. “Are you okay?”

 

The question pulled Darcy from her thoughts instantly. “Fine,” she answered, her voice monotone. “What is your interaction with the Avengers?”

 

“Nothing really,” Prue replied. “Doc and I aren't really talking right now. Stark is always in his lab, and if Cap isn't on a mission, he's usually with his girlfriend.” She shrugged, taking a gulp of tea. “Mostly I'm just in the lab with Jane, and sometimes Thor drops by.”

 

Trying to keep focused Darcy just nodded. This version of herself was so completely different, yet oddly the same as her. It hurt her heart a little to know that this woman had never gotten to experience the family that she had. “Black Widow and Hawkeye?” she couldn't stop herself from asking. Natasha and Clint were two of her closest friends and she really couldn't imagine her life without them in it.

 

Prue frowned, obviously trying to connect the names. “Ugh. I think Black Widow is a SHIELD agent, maybe in Russia.” she said the last word like she wasn't sure if what she was saying was right. “Hawkeye...I think I heard Thor say that name once, then maybe something about California. I know they set up a west coast branch of the Avengers.” Nodding, she snapped her fingers, her mind obviously connecting the dots. “Yeah, I think Thor said he got married, some chick that calls herself Magpie or something.”

 

Forcing herself to nod Darcy made note of that. The thought of Natasha and Clint off living lives outside the Avengers, hell, Clint being married to someone other then Coulson, was something she had trouble imagining. Over the last few years the Avengers had become a strange little family, and for such a chunk of them to have never been there at all, it was unbelievable to her. “Alright. I'm going to assume that Doctor Banner is your estranged husband.”

 

Prue went still for a moment before nodding. “Yeah,” she said softly, “We'd been married about eight months. After the whole Gamma radiation thing he said...well we both just handled it differently I guess.” The bitter laugh that followed told Darcy more then the actual words. “We met on Halloween.” Darcy had to take a drink of tea to stop herself from saying anything in that moment. To say the woman was lying, that Halloween, next Thursday, was her anniversary with James. “What about you?” Prue nodded to the ring on Darcy's hand.

 

Looking down at her ring Darcy felt some of the tension leave her. “Engaged,” she answered after a moment. “We've set a date for next Halloween, our anniversary.”

 

“What's his name?” Prue asked, obviously trying to move the focus away from her own relationship issues. “I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's not Doc.”

 

“No,” Darcy replied, playing with her ring. “His name is James Barnes. We met at a coffee shop near HQ about three years ago. He's away on a business trip right now.” Prue nodded, a look of mild longing on her face. Setting down her tablet Darcy gave the other woman a sympathetic look. “It takes some work, but it's worth it. In this life, there's no other way to do it.”

 

Prue's face shut down. “No offense,” she practically sneered. “But you don't know jack or shit about me and Doc, so don't try to pretend that you do.” Darcy held up her hands, straightening her back.

 

“Not saying that I do,” she said, voice placating. “I'm just saying that I know my relationship had its ups and downs, and without all the work we put in to it, we wouldn't still be together.”

 

Prue shrugged, deflating slightly. “Whatever,” she mumbled, turning her attention back to her tea. Darcy let it drop, it wasn't any of her business anyway.

 

Saving her files she stood, phone in hand. “I have to make a few calls, I'll be back in a few minutes.” Prue didn't say anything so Darcy just walked out of the room. The whole conversation had put something in perspective, but it had also jumbled her thoughts. Taking a deep breath she hit speed dial one and waited for Coulson to pick up. 

 

Coulson was never one to beat around the bush, especially with a reprimand. “I expect a full report, Agent Lewis.”

 

“Like I would give you anything but, Boss Man.” Coulson just sighed, his standard response to anytime Darcy got flippant about breaking protocol. 

 

“Have it on my desk by nine am.” Before Darcy could say anything else the line went dead. Well, that was one thing handled at least.

 

Setting on the balcony Darcy flipped though her contacts list, stopping a few names in. Biting her bottom lip, she sucked in a deep breath and hit call. The phone rang three times before a sleepy “Hello?” came through the phone. 

 

“Hey there, handsome,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

 

“Right back at you, beautiful,” he replied, a smile in his voice. Closing her eyes Darcy let his voice wash over her. She could almost picture him, sprawled out on some cheap motel bed, the sun poking through the blinds. “Couldn't go a whole twenty-four hours without calling, huh?”

 

The joke brought a slightly strained laugh out of her. “Well, excuse me for wanting to talk to my fiancé,” she teased back, trying to blink away the tears that suddenly prickled the corners of her eyes. “I miss you, babe.”

 

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, the sound of rustling fabric telling her he was probably climbing out of bed. “I miss you, too, sweetheart.” he whispered back, honest and open. “Is everything alright?”

 

Darcy contemplated telling the truth, or something resembling it, but she knew she didn't want him worrying about her while he was on an op. “Just can't wait for you to get home,” she finally answered, pouring every ounce of sincerity she had into her voice. It was the truth, at least partially anyway, so she didn't feel guilty about it.

 

“About that,” he said a second later, sighing heavily into the phone. Darcy stilled, her stomach knotting up at what exactly he was going to say next. “They need me on another op.”

 

Swallowing heavily she nodded, trying to keep herself together. “How long?” she finally asked, her voice sounding a little less together then it had a few minutes ago.

 

“End of next week?” It was obviously a question, which never boded well. The last time she'd heard that kind of wording they went six weeks without seeing each other. “Maybe a little sooner.”

 

That took some of the knots out of her stomach. Sooner usually meant sooner, so she could deal with that. This would be the first anniversary he'd missed, but there would be others, and she knew for a fact that he would make it up to her, someway. “Can I ask where you're going to be?” her voice was hopeful, but she also knew that there was a very real chance that he couldn't even tell her if he was in the country.

 

“LA.” he answered a few seconds later, his tone of voice letting her know that even if he wasn't really going to be in LA, he was at least going to be somewhere close to there.

 

“I can live with that,” she said, a small smile working it's way into her voice. “I love you, James.”

 

“I love you too, Darcy.” Darcy closed her eyes, ingraining those words into her memory, just in case she didn't hear them again for another day, or week. A cellphone going off in the background had him cursing slightly. “I've got to go,” he said, more rustling letting her know he was probably getting dressed in a hurry. “See you soon.” 

“See you soon,” she replied, right before the call ended. They never said goodbye at the end of their conversations, it had always sounded too final, especially when they both had jobs were each phone conversation could be their last. Holding the phone to her chin she bit her lips, eyes blankly staring out over the city. Clearing her throat she pushed herself up and headed back in. She had things that had to be handled, and she didn't have time to wonder what if.

 

It took Tony and Bruce three and a half hours to get the reactor back to full operation. Standing behind the protective shielding they'd built in the lab Darcy watched as her doppelganger stood near one of the lab tables, fingers drumming against the top. They were all nervous... although she couldn't blame them. As the minutes ticked down Darcy watched as the equipment began to cycle through its warm-up.

 

Everything was fine for exactly three minutes, but then everything went to hell. Sparks flew from the shielding surrounding the reactor, large arch of blue electricity shooting through the room. She had to fight every instinct she had and stay behind the shielding. Tossing herself into the heart of everything would only fuck it up more. Blinking against the glare she watched as a shower of sparks shot out, Bruce running towards the plug just as some sort of vortex shot out from the reactor, the overhead lights flashing. Then everything stopped.

 

Shaking Darcy made her way out from behind the shielding, watching as Bruce picked himself up from the floor. “Did it work?” Tony's voice drifted from somewhere to her right.

 

“It worked,” Darcy said, voice thick. “I'm going to put the debriefing off till tomorrow. My office, eight am.” Without another word she walked out of the lab, legs unsteady. She made it all the way to her room before her legs gave out and she slid to the floor. Running a hand over her face she climbed to her feet again, walking slowly over to her bed. Collapsing into the soft bedding she buried her head in one of the oversized pillows. “JARVIS?”

 

“Yes, Miss Lewis?” the AI replied. 

 

Smiling just slightly she pulled her head out from the pillow. “Can you please play the video from Steve's birthday party?” she asked, rearranging herself so that she could climb under the comforter.

 

“Of course, Miss Lewis.” he said, the flat screen tv in front of her coming to life.

 

“ _Clinton Barton, hand me that camera now.” Natasha's voice filled the room as a blurry image of the backyard of Stark Manor appeared on the screen._

 

“ _Aw, come on Tasha!” Clint's voice sounded, the image clearing up to show a disgruntled Natasha glaring at the camera. “It's Cap's birthday! These are important memories I'm capturing here! Right Darcy?”_

 

_She saw herself, clad in a bathing suit and draped over James' lap. “Leave me out of this,” she said, burring her face in James' neck._

 

Smiling Darcy curled up tighter in her blankets, watching the events play out on the screen. This was her family, and she couldn't have asked for a better one.

 


	4. Happy accidents

Darcy's head was swimming as she slowly crawled back towards consciousness. “Darcy? Darcy!” she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly. “Please wake up.”

 

Rolling her head to the side she blinked up into the blinding light. “Doc?” she croaked out. A second later she was pulled up from the floor, warm arms wrapping around her to pull her close.

 

“God, never do that again.” Bruce breathed into her hair before burying his face in her neck. Still disoriented, Darcy wrapped her arms around him, holding him close in a way she hadn't been able to in months.

 

“Ok.” she answered, voice sounding a little dazed even to her own ears. Everything was slowly filtering back in, the other world that she had seen, the other _her_. Pushing away those thoughts she laced her fingers through his hair, petting him gently when she noticed he was shaking. “It's ok. I'm ok.”

 

When he finally pulled his head back to look at her Darcy saw the almost haunted look in his eyes. “I can't lose you. I can't.” he rasped out, hands cupping her face. “I love you, Darcy. Nothing else matters, just that.”

 

Smiling slightly Darcy brushed a piece of hair off of his forehead. “I love you, too. Never stopped,” she whispered, fingers lingering for a few seconds more then necessary. His face lit up in a smile before he pulled her into a kiss. Closing her eyes tightly she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. God, it was everything she had ever wanted, would ever want.

 

When he finally pulled back Darcy felt like she couldn't breathe, like he had sucked all of the air out of her lungs. “I don't want to be separated,” he said after a moment. “I want to spend every minute that I can with you.”

 

“I want the same thing,” she whispered back, tears starting to prickle the corner of her eyes. She wasn't going to cry, not today, not because of this. When she felt something cool touch her finger, she glanced down, taking in the sight of her ring sliding onto her finger, the emerald shinning in the lab light. “You kept it?”

 

“Well, you did throw it at my head,” he replied, a sarcastic little smile turning up the corners of his lips.

 

“In my defense,” she began, flexing her fingers to get used to the weight again. “You had just told me you wanted to 'take a break' to 'reevaluate some things'.”

 

“No more breaks,” he said, his hand resting on her jaw. “Not now, not ever. I want to make this work, Darcy.” 

 

Covering his hand she smiled. “Me too,” she whispered, pulling him into another kiss.

 

 “Yo! Lovebirds!” Stark's voice cut through the lab. Groaning Bruce pulled away to glare over his shoulder at the other man. “If you two are done playing tonsil hockey, we've got data to look at!” Sharing an exasperated look with Darcy, Bruce climbed to his feet, holding out a hand to her. Smiling Darcy took it, pulling herself up to her feet. Walking over to the computers she listened to Doc and Stark bicker back and forth, her smile never leaving her lips. It might not be perfect, but this was her life, and she was going to make the most out of every second of it. It's not very often the universe gift-wraps a second chance just for you, after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I was going to leave so much Bruce/Darcy angst unresolved. I'm not that cruel.


	5. Rule 63

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Really nothing should surprise Darcy by this point. That being said somethings are still just a little too odd not to warrant at least an eyebrow raise.

The alarm screeched loudly through the deserted hallways, the emergency lights flickering into life. Her feet pounded heavily against the marble floor as she sprinted, her chest heaving as she fought off the rising panic that was tearing her apart. Sliding into the lab she made a beeline for the main computer, fingers expertly running over the keyboard and holoscreen. The alarms stopped, the lab going deathly quite as she held her breath, eyes scanning over the readouts. She let out a breath the same second the hair on her arms stood on end. She felt the electricity in the air before she saw the flashed of light. Spinning around she stopped dead as an arch of purple lightening tore through the space right in front of her. "Aw, fu-." Was all she managed to get out before the it expanded, her hand coming up to shield her eyes. 

A phone rang out in the suddenly dark and quite lab. A monitor flickered on, casting an eerie glow. "Tony. Tony, listen to me, the machine is unstable, Bruce says its readings are off the charts. Whatever you do, do not go near the machine. Get out of the lab now. Tony, please just leave the lab. This isn't worth your life. Tony, please. I'm sorry. Please just whatever you do, please don't stay in the lab. Tony! Don't ignore me, please, Tony. Please, just answer me. Tony."

The computer let out a petulant beep. "Time allotment has been fulfilled. Please try again later." As quickly as the monitor had come to life it flicked out again, leaving the lab as dark and desolate as before, a lone scorch mark on the floor all the evidence of what had happened.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Darcy was not having a good morning. The coffee pot had inexplicably broken that morning, and while she normally would have just stopped off at the coffee shop around the corner her train had been just late enough that she couldn't spare the few minutes before she headed up to the penthouse. Not to meantion the lack of sleep thst always came from tossing and turning all night in an empty bed. Flopping down behind her desk she glared at her computer screen, knowing full well that she had at least thirty emails that needed to be sifted through before she could even start her day. The excitement of the week before had kept her busy for _days_ and had been followed by so many follow up reports and briefings that she'd spent more then one night curled up on her office couch instead of in her own bed.

"Miss Lewis."

Slouching down in her seat she glared at the ceiling. "Someone had better be bleeding, J, cause if not I'm going to pull out your mother board and sell it to Cash for Gold."

There was a momentary pause before the AI spoke again. "There is a situation in laboratory seventeen, Miss Lewis. I felt it needed your immediate attention."

Heaving a sigh Darcy pulled herself up out of her chair. "Alright, I'm heading there now."

"That would be prudent, Miss Lewis." Darcy found herself snorting as she grabbed her Starkpad and headed for the door. There was no way JARVIS had meant that to be a pun, but it was still a little something to lighten her mood. With any luck she could handle this with out needing to wade through a mountain of paperwork.

Of all the things she expected to see in the lab upon entering a woman dressed in a greasy tank top and cut of denim shorts wasn't what she was expecting. She also wasn't sure how to interpret the glare she was currently sending at Tony. "What's going on?"

The woman's head snapped around to look at her almost instantaneously, a large grin breaking out on her full lips. "Baby girl!" she practically squealed as she jogged across the room to pull Darcy into a hug. "Maybe now I can get this headcase out of my lab!"

Standing stiffly in the other woman's hold Darcy shot a look at Tony and Bruce who both simply shrugged. "Again, what's going on here?"

"They," the woman seethed, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. "Keep insisting that this is _his_ lab."

"It is my lab!" Darcy caught hard not to roll her eyes at Tony's petulant tone.

Instead Darcy sent Tony a glare before turning her attention to the woman who had finally let go of her. "Tony, you aren't helping here."

The woman crinkled her brow. "How am I not helping? You asked what was going on." Darcy stopped short, finally taking the time to look at the woman. Large brown eyes stared back at her from a slightly mature face, maybe late thirties or early forties, her large cupid's bow lips turned up just slightly in a frown. Darcy almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. She'd seen those features for months, hell almost a year, everyday but she had never seen them look quiet so soft before.

"Who are you?" Darcy found herself asking, eyes screwing up just slightly as she looked harder.

The woman gave a surprised laugh. "That's a joke, right?" When no one made a move to answer her hands found their way to her hips, her frown deepening. "I'm Tony Stark."

"Well, fuck." Darcy had never heard Bruce have a more ponente, or appropriate response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this. I honestly don't know when I'm going to be able to update again. My losing battle with fixing my computer has finally been lost, and since I don't have enough money for a new one right now I don't know when I'm going to have access to a computer to update. Thanks to everyone who's followed, and read my stories, I appreciate each and every one of you.

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote Darcy/James sex! Sorry, that makes me happy, if only because I have such a hard time writing sex scenes. Anyway, if everything goes according to plan the next chapter will be up sometime in the next forty eight hours, and from there it should kind of steamroll.


End file.
